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Health Reform Implementation Committee to Hold Next Public Meeting on July 21

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Health Reform Implementation Committee to Hold Next Public Meeting on July 21

The next meeting will be held on Thursday, July 21, from 6 pm to 8 pm, at the Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church, 3000 Pennsylvania Avenue SE.

Today, Mayor Vincent C. Gray announced the next public meeting of his Health Reform Implementation Committee (HRIC) to obtain input from District residents on forming the District’s Health Insurance Exchange (HIX). The next meeting will be held on Thursday, July 21, 2011 from 6 pm to 8 pm, at the Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church, 3000 Pennsylvania Avenue SE. The theme of this community meeting is “Health Care You Can Afford.”

“The HRIC meetings around the District are crucial. Health care impacts each resident of the District, and we want citizen input and involvement in formulating the District’s health infrastructure,” said Mayor Gray. “My Administration’s ultimate goal is to ensure that all residents will find quality and affordable health care solutions in the newly created District Health Insurance Exchange.”

These public meetings provide vital input for the successful implementation of a viable health insurance exchange for the District under the terms of the sweeping health-care-reform bill passed last year by Congress. Earlier this year, Mayor Gray announced the creation of the Mayor’s Health Reform Implementation Committee to carry out implementation. The panel is chaired by Department of Health Care Finance Director Wayne Turnage and co-chaired by Department of Health Director Dr. Mohammad Akhter and Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking Commissioner William White. It directs the work of subcommittees on Eligibility and Medicaid Expansion, Insurance and Health Delivery Systems and is designed to ensure smooth and rapid implementation of the legislation.

Additional committee members are from related agencies such as the Department of Human Services, the Department of Mental Health and the Department of Disability Services. The committee will submit its recommendations to Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services BB Otero so that her office can ensure interagency coordination in implementing the committee’s recommendations.

Shuttle service between the Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church and the Potomac Avenue Metro station will be provided by the Department of Parks and Recreation. They will start picking up passengers from the Potomac Avenue station at 5:15 pm and will last until 8:30 pm.